De La Salle grad ripping the ball in Gulf Coast League

De La Salle grad Giancarlo Brugnoni is playing with the Tigers in the Gulf Coast Rookie League. He’s coming off an outstanding senior season at Grand Valley State University.
Photo courtesy of the Grand Valley Lanthorn

There’s no photo yet of Giancarlo Brugnoni on the Gulf Coast League Tigers section of the milb.com Web site.

Brugnoni, a De La Salle grad, is playing rookie league ball. He was signed as a free agent by the Tigers.

Instead of Brugnoni’s actual picture, it’s a generic avatar of a shadow wearing a hint of a baseball cap.

Talk about misrepresentation. There is nothing generic about Brugnoni’s game.

Advertisement

Bluntly put, he is already mashing the ball as a professional baseball player.

Through five games, he’s smacking it at a .409 pace. His nine hits include a pair of home runs. His slugging percentage is an outstanding .727.

“In the first couple of games, I was breaking some bats. I was a little late on the ball, and I was getting frustrated,” said Brugnoni. “But I got to the field early every morning and kept working. The other day I had a breakout game. My timing was on and I was getting good barrel on the ball.”

It was the first day of July in Dunedin, Florida, when Giancarlo Brugnoni’s pro career began in earnest. The Tigers were on the road against the Blue Jays’ rookies and Brugnoni was penciled in as the designated hitter. He was batting in the fifth slot.

His first at-bat resulted in a double in the gap. That was followed by his first home run. He swatted the ball so hard it cleared the netting in left field. His next time up, Brugnoni lofted a massive fly ball to left center that should’ve filed a flight plan with the FAA. That, too, cleared the outfield fence.

“It was unbelievable,” said Brugnoni. “One of my buddies on the team found one of the home run balls in the parking lot. I knew my mom would want it.”

Chasing home runs is nothing new for Brugnoni’s teammates. He is fresh off an unbelievable senior season at Grand Valley State University.

He batted .384. His 61 hits included 12 doubles and 17 home runs. He knocked in 70 runs for the Lakers, had 126 total bases, a .792 slugging percentage, 49 walks and a .528 on-base percentage.

Brugnoni ranked in the top five of eight different offensive categories in NCAA Division II. He led the country in RBI per game; was second in slugging percentage; tied for second in total RBI; and was fourth in home runs per game, fourth in walks per game, fourth in total home runs and fifth in on-base percentage.

Brugnoni was named a First Team All-American selection in all three publications (ABCA/Rawlings, Daktronics and NCBWA) and was named the National Player of the Year by Daktronics, the first Laker to ever earn a baseball player of the year honor. Brugnoni was the Midwest Regional Player of the Year in all three publications and finished as the runner-up in College Baseball Lineup’s Tino Martinez Award voting, given annually to Division II’s top player.

He finished the season as NCAA Division II’s career active leader in both home runs (49) and RBI (205).

Brugnoni was signed as a free agent by the Tigers. He admits he was disappointed about not getting drafted as either a junior or senior at Grand Valley.

“My dad always said that if I kept working hard things would work out,” said Brugnoni.

“At Grand Valley, you face teams who might have one or two pitchers who threw in the low 90s. Here, everybody throws 90-plus. It took a few games to make the adjustment. I shortened up my swing a little bit.”

Brugnoni also had to adjust his thinking in a big hurry last month. After the draft, he got a call from the Traverse City Beach Bums asking if he wanted to join them.

He was literally packing to start his career in the Frontier League when Garrett Guest, a scout with the Detroit Tigers, asked if he instead wanted to be a Tiger.

“It was unbelievable,” said Brugnoni. “He asked me if I wanted to be a Detroit Tiger. That is exactly what I have always wanted to be, especially growing up in St. Clair Shores. Being a kid from the Detroit area, I always wanted to be a Tiger.”

Raffael and Rosanne Brugnoni had three children; Giancarlo, Dominic and Monica. Both sons were standout athletes at De La Salle, while Monica excelled at Regina.

Dominic, 21, plays baseball at Florida Southern University, which is also in Lakeland. Monica, 19, attends Albion College where she plays softball.

“We lived so close that we’d go to Tigers’ games all of the time,” said Giancarlo Brugnoni. “We would either go, or I’d sit in the living room with my dad and brother and watch them on television.”

Maybe there will be a Brugnoni on the field at Comerica Park someday. Giancarlo certainly won’t have to stop and ask for directions.